Saldanha Bay Municipality would like to inform and assure the public of the following:

All SBM tender processes are handled by its Administration and no Councillors are involved.

The Disaster Management is overseen by the Director responsible for Public Safety Services and an internal coordinator was appointed to oversee and facilitate our humanitarian relief initiatives.

EPWP (extended public works programme) appointments are done according to standard operating procedures.  The Speaker’s office serves as the link between Ward Councillors and Administration to ensure an effective roll out of the programme.

During the national lockdown and under regulations, of the cigarettes that were confiscated 4653 packets have been returned to shop owners.

UPDATED: 16H00

Saldanha Bay Municipality herewith contest the accusations that are made with regards to the management of its Disaster Management Centre and declares that the information currently circulating is untrue and void of substance. This message is to protect the integrity of our organisation and meant to provide the community and the reader with accurate information.

The SBM Disaster Management Forum, chaired by the Municipal Manager, was established in terms of the Disaster Management Plan as adopted by Council. All operations were managed under the strict supervision of the relative Director as delegated by the Municipal Manager. All information pertaining to the progress of activities, including confiscations and humanitarian relief, etc. were recorded and further escalated to the West Coast District Disaster Management Centre.

A contract position was created to ensure effective and efficient administrative operations, especially in relation to the necessary interaction with the community and various organisations. An internal coordinator was appointed at the start of the national lockdown and tasked to coordinate all relief activities which included the distribution of food parcels, coordination of donated items, coordination of shelter arrangements for destitute persons and the coordination of soup kitchens. This coordinator was also primarily responsible to capture all collated data that had reference to relief activities within the municipal area. The coordinator worked closely with the community in order to oversee and ensure the fair distribution of relief items.

Saldanha Bay Municipality herewith contest accusations that is made with regards to the 2019/20 Security Tender and declares that the information currently circulating is untrue and void of substance. This message is to protect the integrity of our organisation and meant to provide the community and the reader of accurate information.

The Security tender is a rates’ tender in which the estimated number of guards required are determined by the security requirements of the municipality. The process of appointment was transparent, fair, competitive, equitable and cost-effective in terms of the Constitution.

Two appeals were lodged against the award of the security tender. The relevant Appeal Authority dismissed both appeals after due consideration. It was evident that the appellants accepted the outcome as the courts was not approached with a review application.

Registration with PSIRA is a statutory requirement and was included as a requirement in the tender document. The appointed service provider met all the requirements in terms of specifications, terms and conditions and legislative requirements. The Auditor General audited the tender (RFI 64) and no findings were raised.